St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Augustine of Hippo, born in 354 A.D. in Carthage, nowadays Algeria, was a Christian theologian and philosopher. He had been a Manichean in his early years until the age of thirty-two. Manicheanism taught that God was all good and that Satan was the cause of evil. However Augustine was not satisfied with the answers that Manicheanism gave him, so he converted to Christianity.

Augustine’s Conversion

Augustine’s sincere conversion occurred in 386 A.D. A year later he was baptized and in 391 he became a priest, only to become a bishop four years later, in an area called Hippo from whence he acquired his name.

He wrote Confessions, often considered the first Western autobiography. However, St. Augustine’s best known work is City of God. In the first half of this book he gives arguments as to why the Christians were not responsible for the Vandals destructive attack on Rome. In the latter half of City of God he tells of two cities, that of God and that of man.

St. Augustine of Hippo died in 430 A.D. as the brutal Vandals laid siege to Hippo.